Teacher Tuesday – Meet Ms. Pacifico!

Meet Ms. Pacifico!

Ms. Pacifico has been with APS for 13 years in a variety of positions.  She has served at Washington-Liberty as a math teacher and field hockey coach, as a math specialist in the APS central office, and is currently teaching intensified geometry and pre-algebra here at Swanson.

Working with and getting to know diverse groups of students is one of the joys of Ms. Pacifico’s job.  “I had an EL student a few years ago who was very bright but spoke no English.  She was a very hard worker and wanted to take Algebra 1 in 8th grade but did not meet the requirements.  I advocated for her to take the course.  She not only passed, but earned an A, passed the SOL and continued onto Geometry and Alg. 2 and is now doing very well in PreCalc.”

When asked what outside the classroom has helped shape or inspire her as a teacher, Ms. Pacifico replied, “The biggest influence on me outside of the classroom is my family.  My mother was a school psychologist and served on the school board for her county – she is very passionate about education.  That passion is contagious.  Observing my children progressing through school – their likes/dislikes also influence what I do in the classroom.”

Dr. James Fey of UMD and author of Connected Math is a leader who inspired Ms. Pacifico.  “He was the only math professor that used instructional strategies other than direct instruction.  He taught the way the education professors were teaching us to teach.”

Ms. Pacifico would choose a career of a physical therapist if she were not teaching.  “I enjoy being active – playing sports, running etc. I also enjoy working with other people and helping other people.  PT seems like it would be a good combination of the two.”

Ms. Pacifico favorite book is “The Handmaids Tale” by Margaret Atwood.